Ideophones in Yucatec Maya
Olivier Le Guen
CIESAS, DF
Memorias del V Congreso de Idiomas Indígenas de Latinoamérica,
6-8 de octubre de 2011, Universidad de Texas en Austin
Disponible en http://www.ailla.utexas.org/site/events.html
1
Ideophones in Yucatec Maya
Olivier Le Guen
CIESAS, DF
[email protected]
Abstract: This paper considers a new word class in Yucatec Maya,
the ideophones. Although this class of words shares a number of
features with other ideophones described in the literature (Doke 1935;
Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001a): syntactic isolation, specific
phonological and morphological profile and onomatopoeic iconicity
(i.e. form is semantically motivated), ideophones in Yucatec Maya are
special in being derivations from various types of roots (verbonominal, adjectival, positional, noun and onomatopoeic). Hence, their
meaning can be partly retrieved from the root they are derived from.
As it is the case with many ideophones in various languages
(Dingemanse 2011), Yucatec Maya ideophones are semantically
complex with a multimodal character describing an event in mixing
its auditory and visual features. For this reason, an analysis of the
multimodal production is often necessary to understand the full
meaning of ideophones.
Key words: ideophones, roots, expressivity, multimodality, Yucatec
Maya
2
1
Introduction
This paper presents a new class of word in Yucatec Maya, the so-called ideophones.
I will show that ideophones in Yucatec Maya is a new class of word never described
before in this language (as far as I am aware of) and that ideophones in Yucatec Maya
share most of the features of ideophones in languages around the world (Voeltz & KilianHatz 2001a; Digemanse 2011; Nuckolls 1995a inter alia) and hence fit this label. One
distinct feature of ideophones in Yucatec Maya is that they are derivations of existing
roots. However, far from being a precluding factor, it responds to the overall pattern of
the language. For this reason, a discussion of root and word class will be proposed.
Because ideophones are derivations, their semantics is predictable on the basis of the
meaning of the root and the meaning of the derivation (i.e. the additional morphemes
added to the root).
The paper is organized as follow. Section 1 presents an overview of expressive
morphology in the literature and what it is in Yucatec Maya, for only ideophones will
considered in this paper. Section 2 concerns the definitions of roots and stems and the
theoretical implication for the language overall. Section 3 exposes the various features of
ideophones, detailing their morphology, syntax and semantic. A sub-section is dedicated
to the analysis of the multimodal production of ideophones, more precisely, it deals with
the following question: how gesture can help us understand the semantic of ideophone
derivations. Finally, section 4 discusses the origin of ideophones (i.e. what roots can
derive ideophones) and how ideophones can get lexicalized to enter a more central part of
the lexicon (i.e. become nouns or verbs for instance).
2 Expressive morphology in Yucatec Maya: an overview
2.1 Yucatec Maya and its speakers
Yucatec Maya belongs to the Maya family, specifically to the Yucatecan Branch. It
is spoken by approximately 786 000 speakers in 2010 (INEGI 2010). Yucatec Maya is a
tonal language with VOS word order, although a number of focalization and
topicalization processes are available (that make word order closer to SVO). It is a head
marking type ergative language (using set A & B) with split ergativity constrained by
aspect. Typical root profile is CVC with very productive inflection and derivation
processes (mostly suffixes) (Bricker, Po’ot Yah, & Dzul de Po’ot 1998; Lois &
Vapnarsky 2006). Tense does not exist as a grammatical category and temporal
information is encoded by a combination of aspect and a large set of temporal deictics.
2.2
What is expressive morphology?
Many authors have argued that, in the study of a language, two contrastive lexicon
and grammar types should be considered: a descriptive (or plain) and an ‘expressive’
lexicon/grammar (Anttila 1977; Brow 1955; Dingemanse 2011; Nuckolls 1995b;
Nuckolls 1999; Tufvesson 2011). The main difference between these two types lies in
that the first is more objective while the expressive dimension implies some involvement
and emotive response from the speaker (Foolen 1997). Along with propositional truth, an
expressive word or grammatical construction conveys the speaker’s stance on the
narrated event (Nuckolls 1995b).
2.3
Plain vs. expressive grammar
Several linguistics features allow distinguishing plain from expressive words and
grammar.
At the phonological level, expressive lexicon presents some specificity that differs
from language to language but that are nonetheless identifiable against the typical or
more regular word(s) form(s) (e.g. change in the place of articulation of initial or final
consonants of syllables in English, see Fudge (1970)). In plain lexicon, the link between
form and meaning is ideally opaque or arbitrary (Saussure 1995). Expressive lexicon, on
the other hand, frequently makes a productive use of sound symbolic strategies and is
said to be motivated (Hinton, Nichols, & Ohala 1994; Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001b).
At the grammatical level, expressive morphology is generally orthogonal to plain
grammar and close to language game (Zwicky & Pullum 1987). Expressive grammar is
often more detached syntactically, less arbitrary and more iconic using lengthening
(usually of vowels) and processes of reduplication. While plain grammar makes a full use
of linearization (i.e. using series of words to express an idea), expressive grammar on the
other hand is condensed, tending to package into a single word multiple semantic layers.
3
At the semantic level, expressive vocabulary often presents some analogy to visual
modes of expression in being semiotically less symbolic and more iconic (Perniss,
Thompson, & Vigliocco 2010). Very often, expressive words carry a multimodal
semantics (Penelope Brown 2011; Dingemanse 2011; Tufvesson 2011). Plain lexicon is
ideally more semantically context independent while expressive words’ meaning is
contingent upon the context of utterance.
At the pragmatic level, expressive grammar implies more involvement from the
speaker. With expressive words or grammar, a speaker is able (or forced) to express his
or her personal stance. Consequently, plain and expressive lexicon or grammar are not
performed or used in the same interactional contexts. Various studies on ideophones (see
Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001a) point out that a private or more relaxed interactional context
promotes the use of these words (rural vs. urban setting has also been proposed as a
criterion).
2.4
Expressives in Yucatec Maya
Expressives words in Yucatec Maya are identified on the basis of:
a) Their morphology: roots get suffixed or (partially) reduplicated, etc.
b) Their meaning: the final derived word acquire two layers of meaning, the one
of the root and the one of the derivation
c) Their use: they are used to suggest or add more vividness to discourse (usually
in personal narratives)
In Yucatec Maya, I consider two main categories of expressive stems: nononomatopoeic expressives, which are adjectives and adverbs (Le Guen 2011) and
onomatopoeic expressives, the ideophones that constitute their own word-class.
Importantly, since derivation is productive in Yucatec Maya, expressives constitute an
open class. Figure 1 summarized the various expressive derivations.
Figure 1. Expressive morphology in Yucatec Maya
Non-onomatopoeic expressives are primarily words that are used to describe (or
recreate) color or sensory percepts or spatial or temporal distributive patterns. These
words have no onomatopoeic character, that is, they do not show any specific
onomatopoeic feature in their form and are not specifically meant to describe sound.
Ideophones, on the other hand, are words expressly used to describe a sudden action or
event according to three blended dimensions: (1) Visual description of the event
(imagistic), (2) Sound description of the event (auditory) and (3) suddenness
(pragmatically implied). Not only ideophones are used to describe sound but they also
show specific phonetic features in their production that make them more salient in
discourse (i.e. voice effects).
In order to present the range of productivity in expressive derivation, consider the
following examples, all derivation of the root TAK’ ‘stick, adhere.’ Examples (1) to (4)
present non-onomatopoeic expressives while examples (5) to (7) are ideophones.
4
In (1), the root is compounded in a specific sensory adjectival compound with the
root chak ‘red’ and the suffix –e’en and refers to the aspect of a percept that would be
‘dirty-red’ (i.e. sticky, hence dirty) (Le Guen 2011; Bricker 1999). In (2), the same root is
derived as a distributive following the template CVC-v-CVC implying the meaning
‘several entities being stuck with small interval space.’ What the construction suggests is
the image of various people seated on a doorstep so close to one another (because they
were afraid), that there was few (or even no) space between the bodies. In (3), the root is
partially reduplicated and used in special construction with the active root xíimbal
‘walking.’ Note that the root is not an adverbial root, but because of its position in this
particular slot, it fills the function of an adverb in specifying the manner of walking (with
sticky feet). In (4), the suffix –áankil derive the root into an adverb. Note that there is no
aspect between the adverb and the verb with its person marker (in contrast with
ideophone). Semantically, -áankil implies temporal recurrence of the event, in this case
with the root tak’ ‘stick, adhere’, going in a sticky fashion over and over again.
(1)
Le k’i’ik’-o’
chak-tak’-e’en pa’at-ik
DET blood-TD red-stick-SUFF rest-FOC
‘The blood turned to be red-dirty’
(2)
tak’-a-tak’
kul-ukbal-o’on t-u-hool
in-naayl-o’on
[adjective]
stick-DISTRB seat-POS-3Bpl FOC-3A-hole 1A-house.NOM-3Bpl
‘we were seated close to another on the doorstep of our house’ [A women is
explaining that during the time strangers were said to steal children’s organs, they
were so afraid that they would wake all night in the doorstep]
(3)
ta-tak’ xíimbal
RED-stick walk
‘walking with sticky feet’
[adverb]
(4)
tak’-(a)l-áankil u-bin (l)e máak-o’
stick-DISTRB 3A-go DET people-TD
‘the man goes in a sticky fashion over and over again ’
[adverb]
[adjective]
The following examples are all ideophones, i.e. have an onomatopoeic character. In
example (5) the root is derived as an ideophone with short vowel. Since the root TAK’
has a short vowel, this reduction is not visible (but see section 4.1.1.1). It is the syntactic
position of the words that determine its word-class, in this case an ideophone before the
direct quotative k-ih ‘it says’ (see section 4.2.2). In (6), the form of the ideophone, the
root TAK’ is derived according to the template 2ch (see section 4.1.3.2) as well as its
syntactic position, before an Aspect-Mode infixed to the verb. In this example it describes
the sound as well as suggests the image of someone going with lip-flop in a sticky
fashion. In (7), the root TAK’ is derived according to the template 2n (see section 4.1.3.2)
especially fitted for falling or strong impact events. In this example, the ideophone is used
to describe the form of the impact of the slapping (adhering to the face, meaning provided
by the root), its suddenness and the sound, also foregrounded with the use of the
quotative k-ih.
(5)
ts'u'
ch'u'l-u
yan
in-k'ilka'
tak bey-a',
TERM wet-PAS
EXIST 1A-sweat
even MAN-TD
t-inw-óo(l)
t-in-mèet bey-a'
FOC-1A-VE
CP-1A-do MAN-TD
k-iw-ik-e’
tak’
kih in-dèedo bey-a'
HAB-1A-see-TR.ICP-TD IDPH.stick
QTV 1A-finger MAN-TD
‘I was all wet (because) I was sweating like that, I made it (touch it) without too
much thinking and I saw tak’ said my finger like that’ [DCC talking about one of
his first experience with electricity and got electrocuted]
(6)
táahk’a’ach k-u-bin (l)e máak-o’ yéetel u x’-tak’ach
IDPH.stick AM-3A-go DET people-TD with 3A IND-flip.flop
‘táahk’a’ach goes the man with his flip-flops’
5
(7)
táahk’a’an kih ka’
t-u-xik-lah-t(-ah)
(l)e máak-o’
stick.P2n QTV CONJ CP-3A-split-slap-APPL-(CP.TR) DET people-TD
‘táahk’a’an it said when he violently slap the man’
3 Roots and stems in Yucatec Maya: theoretical implications
3.1 Root classification in Yucatec Maya
There are some discussions regarding the status of the roots and stems in Yucatec
Maya (Bricker, Po’ot Yah, & Dzul de Po’ot 1998; Lucy 1994) (see Bohnemeyer 2009;
Lois & Vapnarsky 2006 for a discussion). In this paper, we will follow Lois and
Vapnarsky (2006)’s classification. One main interest of these authors’ classification is to
consider various processes in order to identify root classes: phonological and
morphosyntactical as well as argument structure. Consequently, stems (i.e. word class)
are better conceived as instantiated or derived roots. In Figure 2, adapted from Lois and
Vapnarsky (2006:106), roots are divided in two main classes: undetermined roots and
nominal roots, and each class can derive more or less productively a number of stems.
106)
Figure 2: root classes in Yucatec Maya, adapted from Lois and Vapnarsky (2006, p.
In what follows we identify root classes using the following conventions: (mv) for
multivalent root, (act) for active root, (inc) for inactive root, (n) for substantive root, (adj)
for adjective root and (cls) classifier root. In addition to Lois and Vapnarsky’s categories,
two other classes of roots are considered in this paper: positional roots (pos) that are (for
the convenience of the argument) considered here a sub class of adjectives and
onomatopoeic roots (onom), proper formed CVC roots, but that happen to be quite
limited in term of what stems they can derive and in their meaning range (mainly relating
to sound experience). Also because this paper does not directly address root classification
in Yucatec Maya, onomatopoeic roots are considered for convenience as a subclass of
nominal roots for they are not directly associable with an Aspect-Mode (AM). In order to
distinguish lexical stems from uninstantiated roots, the latter will be presented in capital.
3.2
Identifying root-classes and word-classes
In Yucatec Maya, derivational processes are highly productive and roots should be
differentiated from stems. It is often difficult in Yucatec Maya to assign roots with
specific word classes or to assign a (more) basic category to a stem, i.e. to consider a
conversion process. For instance, the root HUCH’ means as basically ‘dough’ as ‘to
grind,’ that is, at the same time the action and the resulting object of the action, a very
common pattern in Mayan languages, (see Laughlin 1988; Haviland). Grammatically, it is
the association of a root with an aspect and/or its syntactic context that instantiates it as a
verb, as in (8) or a noun as in (9).
(8)
táan
in-huch’
PROG 3A-grind/dough
‘I’m grinding’
6
(9)
in-huch’
3A-grind/dough
‘My dough’ or ‘my grinding’
Additionally, multiple tests are often necessary to determine word-class. For
instance, consider the difference between a multivalent root CH’EB ‘lean on one side’
and a positional root KUL ‘seat.’ Once derived, both roots can accept the positional suffix
–vkbal that make them positional words, as in (10) and (11). From this test only, it would
be easy to consider both stems derived from positional roots. However, using a second
test of transitivization, we notice that the multivalent root CH’EB ‘incline’ needs no
suffix to be used as a transitive verb, as in (12), while the positional root KUL ‘seat’
requires the use of the factitive kun/kin and the causative –s-, as in (13). 1
(10) ch’eb-ekbal
yan-ik (l)e
lean.POS EXST-FOC
DET
‘The tree leans on one side’
che’-o’
tree-TD
(11) kul-ukbal
yan-ik
seat.POS
EXST-FOC
‘The man is seated’
(l)e
DET
máak-o’
people-TD
(12) k-u-ch’eb-ik
HAB-3A-lean-TR.IC
‘she inclines it’
(13) k-u-ku(l)-kin-s-ik
HAB-3A-seat-FACT-CAUS-TR.IC
‘she seats him’
Note that not only positional roots become transitive with the factitive kun/kin and
the causative –s-. It is also the case for adjective roots, as in (14) with the root chak ‘red’.
However, adjective roots cannot accept the suffix –vkbal, so (15) is not acceptable.
(14) k-u-chah-kun-s-ik 2
HAB-3A-seat-FACT-CAUS-TR.IC
‘she seats him’
(15) *chak-akbal
red.POS
Intended response: ‘in a positional of being red’
For these reasons, root-class and word-class should be consider at two distinct levels
of analysis. Positional roots are considered a special class of roots (probably a subclass of
adjective roots), the one that can accept the –vkbal suffix and be transitived with the
factitive kun/kin and the causative –s-. On the other hand, positionals, as a word-class, are
root that accept the –vkbal suffix (multivalent and positional roots).
This discussion is particularly relevant for ideophones since they constitute a wordclass that multiple classes of roots can derive.
4
Ideophone as a word class
Various criteria distinguish ideophone as a world-class: phonology, morphology,
syntax, and semantic. Various types of roots derive ideophones: onomatopoeic, active,
multivalent and positional roots; less productively, inactive, nominal and adjectival roots
can also derive ideophones.
1
The choice between the factitive kun or kin is determined by vocal disharmony. If the vocal of the root is /a/,
//e/ and /i/ the disharmonic vocal will be –u-, while if the vocal of the root is /o/ or /u/ the disharmonic vocal
will be –i-. Note that this rule applies for any case of vocal disharmony in Yucatec Maya.
2
In Yucatec Maya, there exist a phonological rule: when two /k/ are juxtaposed the first is pronounced as a
/h/.
7
Importantly, although ideophone have an onomatopoeic character they should be
distinguished from mere sound imitation, onomatopoeia or interjection. Sound imitation
does not involve existing morphemes in the language. In other word, it is very hard to
write sound imitation (e.g. pffffff could be the closest way to write the sound of someone
blowing a candle). Though onomatopoeias are close to sound imitation, they usually
make use of the existing morphemes of the language, hence are more conventionalized.
Good examples of onomatopoeia are imitation of animals’ cry (e.g. kikiriki used to
imitate the sound of the roster) or ways of calling animals (e.g. kus kus kus to call little
dogs in Yucatec Maya). Crucially onomatopoeia and sound imitation only describe sound
while ideophone suggest also some imagistic representation. Finally, interjections
(sometimes called expletives) are words that are fully integrated to the lexicon (i.e.
making use of morphemes) and highly conventionalized. However, interjections are used
to comply with a specific indexical function (see Ameka 2006; Kockelman 2003) which
is not always present in ideophones.
Morphologically, roots derive ideophones according to three types of derivation:
vowel alteration (section 4.1.1), suffixation (section 4.1.2) and derivation templates
(section 4.1.3). Syntactically, ideophones precede either the verb with an aspect, a
quotative or a pause (usually at the end of an utterance) (section 4.2).
4.1
Morphology
At the morphological level, roots get derived in three ways: vowel alteration,
suffixation and derivation according to specific and complex templates. Crucially, the
form of the derivation is adding a specific meaning to the root and the form of the
derivation is iconically related to its meaning.
4.1.1 Vowel alteration
When roots derive ideophones with vowel alteration, to the meaning of the root is
added the meaning of the modified vowel. The meaning is iconically mapped on the
length of the vowel as follows:
• short vowel suggests a short or quick event or sound
• long vowel (sometimes additionally phonologically lengthened) suggests a long
event or sound
• rearticulated vowel suggests an event in two part or a staccato event or sound
Interestingly, although potentially available in Yucatec Maya, high tone vowel
change has not been encountered in the database. The following examples are taken from
the results of the OLG sound task run with 8 informants in Kopchen.3
4.1.1.1
C1V C2 (SHORT VOWEL) FOR SHORT SOUND/EVENT
Examples (16) to (18) present ideophones where the vowel of the root is reduced to a
short vowel. This derivation process is particularly clear when the root is originally with a
high tone, as in (18). As with any other expressive derivation, the two meaning (of the
root and of the derivation) add up, blend or redefine each other. Ideophones with a short
vowel imply a short event/sound (described by the meaning of the root).
(16)
p’uch (mv) ‘beat’
p’uch p’uch p’uch
(17)
t’in (mv) ‘tighten’
t’in t’in t’in
‘hits on wood (high and low pitch), hits on an iron pot’
(18)
t’óoh (mv) ‘strike, hit’
t’oh t’oh t’oh
‘hits on wood (high and low pitch), hits on an iron pot’
4.1.1.2
‘hits on wood (high and low pitch), hits on an iron pot’
C1VVC2 (LONG LOW T ONED) FOR LONG SOUND/EVENT
With ideophones with a long vowel, the meaning of the derivation implies an
extended duration of the event described by the meaning of the root. In (19), (21) and
(22) the roots TSAH (mv) ‘fry,’ CHE’EH (mv) ‘stick out, exposed,’ WOH (mv) ‘to
loose’ and TS’EH (mv) ‘chip, crack’ are with short vowels and get lengthened when
3
The OLG sound task (a set of 35 sounds of object falling, rubbing events, etc.) was created by the author.
Eight informants (4 women; 4 men) were presented with the sounds and asked to describe each sound (they
were asked bix ut’an? ‘what’s its sounds/word’)
8
derived into an ideophone. Typically, in addition to the long vowel, speakers also tend to
iconically map the sound of the word on the duration of the event in lengthening of the
vowel phonologically, as in (19) and (21). Obviously, the meaning of the root should be
in principle compatible with an event that lasts in time.
(19)
tsah (mv) ‘fry’
tsaa:::::h
‘sound of water on embers’
(20) cheeh
kih
úuch
u-pul-ik
lu’um ich kareetya
IDPH.stick.out 4 QTV CONJ 3A-throw-TR.IC earth in wheelbarrow
‘cheeh it said when he throw some earth in the wheelbarrow’
[note_DC_2008.08.10]
(21) ti’
yaan-en
t-u-chi’
k’áak’ bey-a’
FOC EXIST-2B FOC-3A-mouth fire
MAN-TD
woo::h
k-u-lúub-l
in-k’ilk’ab
IDPH.loose
HAB-3A-fall-NOM 1A-sweat
‘(when) I’m near the fireplace like this, woo::h falls my sweat [i.e. heavy drops
of sweat]’
[note_xS_06.08.08]
(22) ts’eeh
ken
lúub-uk hum-p’ée
ooya
IDPH.crack CONJ fall-SBJ one-CLAS.INAM pot
‘ts’eeh would do a pot when falling’ [i.e. breaking and making the sounds ts’eeh]
[note_LPB_18.08.08]
4.1.1.3
C1V ’V C2 (REARTICULATED) FOR SOUND/EVENT WITH AN INTERNAL DIVISION
When rearticulated, the division of the vowel in ideophone suggests an internal
division of the event described by the meaning of the root. Examples (23) to (25) were
produced by JCC, an expert hunter that described several ways/sounds of animals waking
on dry leaves. The various roots used are from different classes: TSOH ‘crush’ (24) or
SO’OH ‘hoarse, hollow’ (25) are onomatopoeic root while TSAH (mv) ‘fry’ (23) (also in
19 above) is a multivalent root. In the cases of TSOH and TSAH, the vowel is originally
short and gets rearticulated in the derivation.
(23) tsa’ah
bey
u-máan haleeb wáa raton
IDPH.fry MAN 3A-pass paca or rat
‘tsa’ah, it’s how passes the paca or a rat’ [conv_JCC-DC_22.08.08]
(24) tso’oh
bey
u-máan kitam, haaleb, kéeh
IDPH.crush MAN 3A-pass jabali paca
deer
‘tso’oh, is how passes jabali, paca or deer’
[conv_JCC-DC_22.08.08]
(25) so’oh
bey
u-máan weech
IDPH.hollow MAN 3A-pass armadillo
ma’ik
CONJ
endas
random
u-bin u-soh-chal-áankil
3A3A-crush
go
‘so’oh is how goes the armadillo, because it goes (in a) random (fashion), it goes
crushing again and again’
[conv_JCC-DC_22.08.08]
4.1.2 Suffixation
A second way in which roots can derive ideophone is suffixation. The most two
common suffixes found in our database both imply the description of an event with
internal repetitive features.
4.1.2.1
C1V C2 -CHAH FOR AN EVENT WITH INTERNAL REPETITIVE FEATURES
The suffix –chah (homophone with the completive inchoative) suggests an internal
repetition of an event. Examples (26) to (28) are answers to the OLG and MPI sounds
4
Glosses of roots that derive ideophone are only provided to give a broad meaning of the root.
9
tasks while (29) is taken from a discussion with hunter regarding sounds and ways of
walking of animals in the forest.
The various roots used are from different classes: K’O’ ‘loop’ is a nominal root,
BOK’ ‘stir, mix, beat’ and BOH ‘knock hollow’ and multivalent and SOP’ ‘pile up’ is a
positional root. In all examples, the suffix –chah add the idea of a movement with
internal repetition. Speakers are also free to use a secondary iconic process to suggest the
repetition of the event itself: iteration, as in (29).
(26)
k’o’ (n) ‘loop’
k’o’ochah
(27)
bok’(mv) ‘stir, mix, beat’
bok'chah
sound of footsteps in the water/in the mud [MPI.ST_19]
(28)
boh (mv) ‘knock hollow’
bohchah
sound of someone walking with high-heel on a firm surface
[OLG.ST_25]
sound or image of tipping lid on iron pot [OLG.ST_34]
(29) le
noom-o’
sop’chah
sop'chah k-u-bin
DET partridge-TD IDPH.pile.up IDPH
HAB-3A-go
mun-màas-t(al)
NEG.3A.PROG-more-INCH
chen
only
bey-o’
MAN-TD
u-k’a’am-t
3A-loud-APPL
ma’ik
CONJ
el-o’
DEIC-TD
u-bin
3A-go
sáal
light
‘The partridge goes sop’chah sop’chah and it doesn’t get any louder like this
because it’s (a) light (animal) [i.e. not heavy]’
[conv_JCC-DC_22.08.08]
4.1.2.2
C1V C2 -I’ IN FOR EVENT WITH INTERNAL REPETITIVE FEATURES
The suffix –i’in seems to present the same meaning as –chah. However, it seems that
the suffix –i’in suggests a more rapid repetition that in –chah and maybe something closer
to a swinging event on the top of the internal repetition. Consider the following examples.
(30)
ch’eb (pos) ‘lean on one side’
ch’ebi’in
sound or image of tipping lid on iron pot [OLG.ST_34]
(31) k’uy-i’in
k’uy-i’in
u-máan le
ch’upal-o’
IDPH.twist IDPH.twist 3A-pass DET girl-TD
‘k’uyi’in k’uyi’in passes the girl (i.e. twisting her butt)’
4.1.2.3
OTHER SUFFIXES NON -IDENTIFIED
Additionally, we collected other ideophones with the following suffixes: CvC-vl as
in (32), CvC-la'an as in (33) with the root TOP’ (mv) ‘bloom, small explosion’ and CvCvrv'vx as in (34) with the root TIP’ (mv) ‘increase, exceed, augment.’ However, we are
currently unable to provide a good definition of their meaning (due to the small number
of items).
In (33), the speaker is talking about the noise made by an old beetle, but the root he
uses suggests also the image of small little explosion going out of the motor or the pipe of
the car. In (34), the root used suggests the idea of increasing and the derivation probably
something like random and intermittent contact of the electric cable moved by the wind.
Note that the speaker uses the root PÉEK (inc) that means equally ‘sound’ and ‘move’
but that is probably more close to ‘vibrate,’ to allude to the idea of the moving cables
producing noise.
(32) bok’ (mv) ‘stir, mix, beat’
bok'ol bok'ol
sound of boiling water [MPI.ST_07/09]
(33) top’la’an
top’la’an kih
le
chan top
bolcho-o’
IDPH.bloom IDPH
QTV DET small damage vocho-TD
‘Top’la’an, top’la’an says the small broken beetle (car)’ [note_DC_30.07.08]
10
(34) tip’irix
tip’irix k-u-péek
le
kaable-o’
IDPH.increase IDPH HAB-3A-sound/move DET cable-TD
‘Tip’irix, tip’irix sounds/moves the (electric) cable’
[note_xS_03.08.08]
4.1.3 Derivation according to templates
Finally, the last way in which roots can derive ideophones is according to specific
and quite complex templates. Two main templates have been identified: template 1
C1v́vhrv’vC2 and template 2 C1v́vhC2v’vC3. Although the former is fixed, the latter
presents various sub-templates declined according to the change of the last consonant
(C3).
4.1.3.1
T EMPLATE 1 C1 V́ VHRV’VC 2 FOR RAPID MOTION
In template 1, the root gets a /hr/ infix, a sound combination found nowhere else in
Yucatec Maya. Additionally, as in other ideophonic templates, the first vowel gets a high
tone while the second (in vocal harmony) becomes rearticulated.
The meaning implied by template 1, depending on the meaning of the root derived,
is rapid motion. In (35), the movement of the mouse described with the positional root
HUTS’ ‘a Figure moving toward, near, inside or behind a Ground’ with the ideophone
derivation reinforces the image of the haste of the mouse to hide being the jar. In (36), the
speaker is describing (in a funny way) how his grandmother used to hit the children on
the head if they were being too loud while they were eating. The speaker chooses to use
two roots derived according to the same template (template 1). Both roots, NÓOT’ (mv)
‘hard contact (e.g. gnawing bones)’ and WICH’ (mv) ‘whip,’ refer to a beating/whipping
event. The derivation in template 1 suggests the rapid unfolding of the event but also the
suddenness or unexpected aspect of the hitting, in this case, from the perspective of the
children. Finally, in (37), extracted from a narrative, the speaker imitates the sound of a
character snoring. However, she does not only make a sound imitation but use instead an
ideophone derived from the root HOTS’ (mv) ‘remove a large figure from a ground’ to
suggest the idea of a lot of air going out of the mouth of the character. Once again, in this
example, ideophone is used strategically to convey at the same time an auditory and an
imagistic impression. Paralinguistic tools were also used during the production of the
utterance, namely voice effect and gestures (not recorded).
(35) húuhru’uts’
ka’ah bin le ch’o’o’
t-u-paach
le p’uul-o’
IDPH.place.near CONJ go DET rat-TD LOC-3ERG-back DET jar-TD
‘húuhru’uts’ went the rat behind the jar’ [note_LPB_15.09.10]
(36)
nóohro’ot’
IDPH.gnaw
u-háats’-a’al
3A-hit-PAS
u-ho’ol
3A-head
le paal-a’
DET child-TD
u-p’uch
3A-beat
u-ho’ol
yéetel che’
wáa
yéetel ak’
wíihri’ich’
kih
3A-head with wood
or
with
vine
IDPH.whip
QTV
‘nóohro’ot’ she hit the head of the children, she beat their heir with (a piece of)
wood or with a vine (it would) says: wíihri’ich’’ [note_El_03.09.08]
(37) hóohro’ots’
hóohro’ots’ hóohro’ots’ k-u-nóok'
bin
IDPH.remove IDPH
IDPH
HAB-3A-snore EVID
‘hóohro’ots’, hóohro’ots’, hóohro’ots’ he snores, they say’
[narr.
molchi_DLUC_03:09]
4.1.3.2
T EMPLATE 2 C1 V́ VH C2V ’V C3 FOR CONTACT EVENTS
In this template, before the second consonant (the last consonant of the root) is
infixed a /h/. Note that the last consonant is fixed and gives its specific meaning to the
template. As in template 1, the first vowel is with high tone and the second (in vocal
harmony) is rearticulated. Template 2 has a general meaning that broadly suggests
‘contact event.’ The change of the third consonant (C3) gives a more specific meaning
that goes as follow:
• -ch
contact/interaction between objects
• -n
ways/sounds of falling
• -ts’
inserting interaction (figure is forced into the ground)
11
As an example of the productive aspect of this derivation, consider the three
derivations with the same root TUK’ (mv) ‘twist, dislocate’ (ex. 38 to 40) by the same
speaker (ICM):
final stem
(38) túuhk’u’uch
(39) túuhk’u’un
(40) túuhk’u’uts’
examples of event
‘tree creak, hairclip closing, etc.’
‘stone falling on the ground’
‘knife stabbing a pig, piston entering into a cylinder, male penis
entering a female sex’
Examples (41), (42) and (43) present example of the template 2ch derivation with
the following roots: K’UB (mv) ‘sink, disappear in water,’ HAK (mv) ‘lower, slip’ and
WAK’ (mv) ‘explode, set off loud sound.’
(41)
k’ub (mv) ‘sink, disappear in water’
k’úuhbu’uch
sound of footsteps in water
(42) háahka’ach ka’ah lúubl (l)e
taabla-o’
IDPH.slip
CONJ fall
DET plank-TD
‘háahka’ach felt the plank’ [the plank felt sliding against the wall it was laying
on]
(43) wáahk’a’ach kih
u-wáak’-al
(l)e
saabrita-o’
IDPH.explode CONJ 3A-explode-NOM DET chips-TD
‘wáahk’a’ach says the explosion of the (package of) chips [when opened by
pressure]’
As with any expressive derivation, the meaning of some derivations is has to be
compatible with the meaning of specific roots. Positional root and roots that can be
derived as position (i.e. take the -vkbal suffix) are particularly fitted with the template 2n
that describes falling event. Note that template 2n implies a complete sound with no
possible tail repetition
Tail repetition in ideophones is an extension of the last two consonant at the end of
the ideophone: -CVCVCV…. Tail repetition may be used to convey the idea of a
continuous or repetitive event. For instance, to express the image of an object dragged on
the ground for a long distance, a speaker could use the root HIX ‘bumpy, rough’, derived
as template 1 with a tail as in híihri’ix-ixixixi…. In the same way, the sound of a cracking
door lasting in time can be communicated with the use of the root 'EP’ ‘crack’ derived as
template 2ch with a tail, as in ’éehp’ech-echeche…. Note that tail repetition is not
possible with template 2n, due to the meaning of the derivation that conveys the idea of a
unique or non-repetitive event (like a fall for instance).
In (44) and (45) the idea is to suggest the sound of the child falling on the ground.
However, the ideophone is not limited to sound imitation but also convey an image
through the meaning of the root. Although (44) and (45) use the same template derivation
and present a similar construction a Yucatec Maya listener understands that in (44) the
child felt on his back, because of the use of the positional root haw ‘facing upward.’ In
(45) however, a listener would picture the child falling on his face because of the
presence of the positional root noh ‘facing downward.’
(44) háahwa’an
ka’ah lúub le
chan paal-o’
IDPH.face.up CONJ fall DET small child-TD
‘háahwa’an fell the small child’ (BMY) [the child felt face up, on his back]
(45) nóohko’on
ka’ah lúub le
chan paal-o’
IDPH.face.down CONJ fall DET small child-TD
‘nóohko’on fell the small child’ [the child felt face down]
It is important to note that templates can be shortened as CVCVC (and still be used
as ideophone, see below). The shorten form is iconic of a faster event.
12
4.2
Syntax
Syntactically, ideophones differ from adverbs or adjectives in that they do not
predicate on any nominal or a verbal phrase. In being extremely expressive, they tend to
semantically but also syntactically stand alone (as shown above). Ideophones always
appear either before an aspect (the main difference with adverbs), a quotative or in final
position in the sentence/utterance.
4.2.1 Before an Aspect-Mode
In contrast with adverbs that predicate on the verb, ideophone are syntactically
detached or separated from the verb by the presence of an aspect. However, this
difference with the adverbs is only visible with the habitual aspect, as in (46) taken from
an actual utterance by a woman distributing cakes. With a completive aspect on the other
hand, the difference between adverb, as in (47), and ideophone, as in (48), disappear.
(46) Teen-e’, k-in-máan
in-t’ox-e
le
pastel-o’,
PP-TD
AM-1A-pass 1A-distribute-SBJ DET cake-TD
kaada
k-in-ch’-ik
every.time AM-1A-take-TR
hum-p’éel-e’
chaas,
one-CLAS.INAM-TD IDPH.hand.mvt
chohk’o’on
chok’o’o k-u-bin
t-in-chi’
n
IDPH.insert
IDPH
HAB-3A-go
LOC-3A-mouth
‘As for me, I distribute the cakes, every time I take one chaas, chaas;
chohk’o’on, chok’o’on they go into my mouth’ [note_SCC_24.07.08]
(47) túuhts’u’un
ka’ah bin
le kiib-o’
IDPH.strecht.out CONJ go.3B DET candle-TD
‘túuhts’u’un went the candle’ [note_ICM_31.08.08]
(48) seeba’an ka’ah bin
t-in-chi’
fast
CONJ go.3B LOC-3A-mouth
‘It went fast into my mouth’
[ideophone]
[adverb]
4.2.2 Use of quotative
As in various languages of the world, ideophones are introduced or preceded by a
quotative. In Yucatec Maya, the direct quotative is use mainly for direct quotation but
also have the broader function of quoting a piece of reality, that is, it can be used to quote
utterance (Lucy 1993) but also sounds and even (although more rarely) gestures or,
precisely, body movement. In (49) for instance, an actual utterance recorded by the
author, of a woman talking about her experience while she was sitting the city having her
back hitching. She explained afterwards (when asked by the authors) that she used the
root NICH’ (mv) ‘bite’ because the sensation of hitching was as if a little ant was biting
her back. In this example, the quotative introduce the event but not the sounds as hitching
does not emit any sound. Other examples with quotative were presented above in (33)
and (36).
(49) kul-ukbal-en Kaariyo, níich'i'in
níich'i'in kih
bey-a'
seat-POS-1B Carrillo IDPH.bite IDPH
QTV MAN-TD
pero
m-in-la'ach-ik
tumen
su'ulak-en
but
NEG-1A-scratch-TR
because ashamed/shy-1B
‘I was seated in Carrillo, “níich’i’in níich’i’in” it says like this, but I didn’t
scratched it because I was ashamed/shy’ [note_SCC_01.09.08]
4.2.3 Final position in the sentence
The last slot where ideophone are found in Yucatec Maya is before a silence, most
likely at the end of an utterance. In (50), extracted from a narrative, the ideophone
derived from the root HOTS’ (mv) ‘remove’, is before a silence of almost 1 second.
Additionally, as contrastive feature, the next sentence is started at a higher frequency.
13
(50) “he’la’! hots’-eh”
k-y-a’ala’
bin
ti’
PRES
remove-IMP.TR AM-3A-say.PAS EVID PREP
ka’ t-u-mach-ah
ka’ t-u-kóol-ah
hóohts’o’on!
CONJ AM-3E-grasp-CP.TR
CONJ AM-3E-pull-CP.TR IDPH.draw.out
“Here it is! Remove it [the claw]” it was said to him, so they say, so he grasped it
and he pulled it, hóohts’o’on! [narr.baalche_DC_09:36]
4.3
Semantic and multimodality
Ideophones are primarily used in informal contexts and used to suggest vivid
imagistic events recreated through language. In being expressive and having a
multimodal meaning (sound + image + suddenness), ideophones are usually part of a
multimodal production, that is, are often accompanied by a special prosody or voice
effect and gestures. Far from being ‘paralinguistic’ or ‘superfluous,’ the gesture
associated with ideophones should be taken as a co-production of the speech (Kendon
2004; McNeill 1992; Digemanse 2011). Furthermore, the gesture often gives some
insight about the meaning of the derivation. The following examples show how gestures
reflect the meaning of the derivation, and hence constitute a useful tool for linguists
(although often too rapidly dismissed).
4.3.1 Multimodal production and adequacy with templates meaning
In the example (51), JCC is explaining to the author how the plastic tube installed in
the author’s house will prove to be useful in case of heavy rains. The water will get
though the tube and get expulsed instead of flooding the whole room. In order to verbally
recreate the way the water would go through the tube and get expulsed out of it, JCC
choose to use three roots: HUTS’ ‘a Figure moving toward, near, inside or behind a
Ground’ (see also example (35) above), POTS’ (mv) ‘squeeze out’ and TS’IT (mv)
‘eject.’
(51) haa le
ken k'ax-k e
ha'o'
te' chan ba'al he'el-a'
INTJ DET CONJ fall-SBJ DET water-TD DEIC little thing PRES-TD
ken tak e
ha'-o'
CONJ fall DET water-TD
póohts'o'on
IDPH.squeeze.out
húuru'uts'
ken ook-ok
te'el-a'
IDPH.displace CONJ go.out-SBJ DEIC-TD
ken
hóok'-ok
CONJ go.out-SBJ
te'el-a'
DEIC-TD
h u-bey-tal
inw-a'ak-e'
ts'íihti'in ken hóok'-ok
AM 3A-MAN-INCH 1A-say.TR-TD
IDPH.eject CONJ go.out-SBJ
‘haa when the rain will fall [the water will go] in this little thing, when the water
will come in, húuhru'uts’ it will enter here, póohts'o'on it will get out here, I could
also say ts'íihti'in it will get out’
Interestingly, not only the roots but the templates used fit the action described. In
order to depict the first event, the water passing through the tube, the speaker used the
root HUTS’ ‘figure moving’ derived according to the template 1 fitted for motion event.
For the second event however, the roots POTS’ ‘squeeze out’ and TS’IT ‘eject’ are
derived according to the template 2n fitted for falling event. The use of the template 2
suggests the image of the water suddenly falling out of the tube but the meaning of the
root POTS’ implies that the water will come with force and ‘squeeze out’ of the tube. On
the other hand, the second root, also used derived according to template, foreground the
idea that the water is coming with forced and hence ‘ejected’ from the tube before falling.
The three ideophones produced by the speaker were all accompanied by a gesture.
These gestures were not simple beats but iconic gestures (McNeill 1992). Their have a
specific form differs according to templates, giving some cues to better understand the
meaning of each derivation. The first gesture produced with húuhru'uts’ is only a finger
strait showing where the water is going (i.e. inside the tube), see Figure 3a. This gesture
fits the meaning of the template 1 that is basically about motion. The two following
gestures used to describe the water falling out of the tube are produced with póohts'o'on
and then with ts'íihti'in and are both finger snaps, see Figure 3b. The finger snap directly
glosses the meaning of the derivation (but not the root) suggesting the idea of suddenness
14
as well as non-repeatable event, a characteristic of template 2 (that can not accept tail
repetition, as for instance *póohts'o'onononon is not acceptable).
Figure 3: gestures accompanying the production of the ideophones and echoing the
meaning of the templates: (a) with template 1 and (b) with template 2
4.3.2 Multimodal production and adequacy with vowel and suffix meaning
In example (52), two women are explaining to the author the difference between two
ideophonic derivations of the same root CH’IK (mv) ‘pin, fix in place.’ The choice of the
root is motivated by what the women are describing: a women walking with high heels on
the earth. When walking, her heels would enter the ground. The choice of the derivation
is driven by the image they want to convey, either a rapid motion of several steps, hence
the use of the short vowel ideophone, or a focus on the swinging movement of the
walking, hence the use of the suffix –i’in.
(52) ch’ik
ch’ik ch’ik k-u-bin
IDPH.pin IDPH IDPH AM-3A-go
e
DET
xana’ te’ lu’um-o’
shoe LOC earth-TD
pero he’ex e ch’iki’in-o’
k-u-ch’ik-l-e’
but like DET IDPH.pin-TD AM-3A-pin-NOM-TD
k-u-chan yúum-ba’,
ch’iki’in
AM-3A-little swing-PART IDPH.pin
ch’iki’in
IDPH
‘ch’ik ch’ik ch’ik goes the high-heel on the ground but with ch’iki’in, its (means
that) it swings a bit, ch’iki’in, ch’iki’in’
Figure 4: gestures accompanying the production of the ideophones and echoing the
meaning of the templates: (a) with short vowel and (b) with the suffix –i’in
The first derivation with a short vowel ch’ik suggests the idea of the heel rapidly and
effortlessly entering the ground. The iteration of the ideophone implies that the event
15
goes again and again. The second derivation however, with the suffix –i’in, suggests the
repetition of the internal event, i.e. that at each step the heel would swing a little (hence
the use of the verb yúun ‘move from one side to the other’ by the speaker to explain the
type of movement). This difference of meaning between the derivations is reflected in the
gesture production of the speaker. Along with the ideophone ch’ik the speaker produces
several repetitive movements of her index fingers toward the ground to imitate the
movement of the high-heels entering the ground (the index finger represent iconically the
heel of the shoe), as shown in Figure 4a. The rapid and unique movement fits the
meaning of the short vowel derivation. In contrast, while uttering the ideophone ch’iki’in,
the speaker produces a movement similar in its form (finger downward representing the
heel) but this time, the speaker shakes her hand at each repetition, reflecting the internal
movement implied by the suffix –i’in.
4.3.3 On the importance of co-speech gesture for linguistic analysis
Authors like McNeill or Kendon (among others) have suggested and demonstrated
the importance of co-speech gestures in human communication (McNeill 1992; Kendon
2004; Enfield, Kita, & De Ruiter 2007; Enfield 2009 iner alia). Not only gestures reflect
speakers’ intentions and cognitive representation (Kita & Özyürek 2003; Özyürek et al.
2008; Kita et al. 2007; Sweetser 2004; Sweetser 2006 inter alia), but their form and
meaning is designed in accordance with the speech production. Kendon (2004, chap 10)
for instance propose six ways in which gestures can echo, narrow or elicit the semantic of
the speech. The gesture that accompany examples (51) and (52) echo the meaning of the
derivation and would fall in Kendon’s “narrow gloss gesture with equivalent verbal
expression” category. Noteworthy in this case, the gesture is not reflecting the overall
meaning of the sentence but the morpheme (either the template or the suffix meaning).
Such production is far from being anecdotal and shows how much gesture is part of
language (i.e.: speech + gesture).
It is crucial to remember that the focus of linguists in general on speech only is an
epiphenomenon of literacy, so pregnant in the western setting since the antiquity. In
indigenous Mesoamerican cultures, communication has always been conducted face-toface and speakers have maximally exploited the various semantic channels available to
them (i.e. speech and gesture). Furthermore, in the Mesoamerican cultural setting there is
no ideology that depreciates the importance gesture as in many western modern settings.
As a result, in many Mesoamerican cultures we notice an important number of ‘quotable
gestures’ (Kendon 1992) (also called ‘emblems’ by McNeill (1992), i.e. gesture that can
replace or are equivalent to a word or a verbal expression) that bear a specific meaning
(as the OKAY gesture in the US) and that are used to specify the meaning of the speech.
A closer attention to gesture, especially in the analysis of expressive words or
morphology (but also time, see (Le Guen & Pool Balam)) is necessary to better
understand the structure of the language at a morphosyntactic but also cognitive level.
5
Origin and lexicalization of ideophones
As mention throughout this paper, not all roots can derive ideophones and
multivalent roots appear to be, as their name indicates, the more flexible class of roots in
Yucatec Maya for they can derive a variety of stems. It is also the case that ideophones
can be phonologically reduced and change class to become nouns or verbs.
5.1
What roots can derive ideophone?
Not all roots can derive ideophones and, according to classes, some root classes are
much more flexible in terms of derivation. The database collected encompasses so far 215
roots and is composed a various types of roots (excepts adjective and classifier roots), see
Figure 5,
Table 1 and Annex 1. Note that the number of types of ideophones collected is much
higher since one root can derive several ideophones.
In the database, the main class that can derive ideophones is the multivalent root
class (representing more than half of the roots collected with 115 items, i.e. 54% of the
total of the roots). This finding comes to support Lois and Vapnarsky (2006)’s hypothesis
that multivalent roots are more undetermined in terms of what stems they can derive. The
second more important proportion of roots are the onomatopoeic roots. Although very
limited in the range of stems they can derive (in contrast with multivalent), onomatopoeic
roots present one central feature present in ideophone: an onomatopoeic character. This
16
could explain their important number in the database (60 items, i.e. 28%). We also notice
a quite large number of positional roots (24 items, i.e. 11%). Their semantic, as mention
earlier, make them good candidate for template 2n ideophonic derivation. Active, inactive
and substantive roots, although they can derive ideophones are much less present in the
database (see
Table 1). One reason has to do with their semantic (especially noun are less fitted to
express actions, central in ideophones). Additionally, many active roots present a nonCVC profile (e.g. ook’ot ‘dance’), excluding them de facto as candidate for ideophonic
derivation.
Figure 5: Proportion of roots that derive ideophones from the database
Table 1: proportion of roots that derive ideophone in the database (number and
percentage)
Root class
Number
%
Multivalent
115
54
28
Onomatopoeic
60
Positional
24
11
Active
8
4
1
Inactive
3
Substantive
5
2
TOTAL
215
5.2
Lexicalization of ideophones
Interestingly, ideophones are, as shown throughout the paper, syntactically isolated
and cannot have morphology (once derived as stems). As such, ideophones are not easily
transposable in other speech contexts. Nonetheless, it seems that speakers find these
words attractive and/or practical to describe multilayers event. As a result, for some of
these words at least, we notice a tendency towards lexicalization through a process of
conversion.
Lexicalization of ideophone is done through phonological reduction (see Figure 6).
In the case of templates (the more non-canonic forms for words in Yucatec Maya), the
original profile is reduced to CVCVC. The new stems behave like an Active root (when
verbalized) or a substantive (when used as noun). Note that in template that are
phonologically reduced, the infixed /h/ always fall and either the /r/ (for template 1) or the
C2 (for templates 2) becomes the middle consonant of the new lexicalized stem (see
examples 53a-d).
Figure 6: Lexicalization process of ideophones
17
In the Yucatec Maya lexicon, a significant number of stems are lexicalized
ideophones, some of them very common in use. For instance, the verb pak’ach ‘making
tortilla’ is the lexicalized form of the ideophone (template 2ch) páahk’a’ach itself derived
from the root PAK’ (mv) ‘fold, flap, slap,’ as in (53a). A similar process is accounted for
tak’ach (substantive) ‘flip-flop,’ the lexicalized form of the ideophone páahk’a’ach
(template 2ch) derived from the root TAK’ ‘stick, adhere,’ as in (53b). Note that even
more precise event description can also get lexicalized. For instance, wak’ach ‘walking in
mud with flip-flop’ is the reduced form of wáahk’a’ach (template 2ch) derived from the
root WAK’ ‘explode, set off loud sound,’ as in (53c). Finally, some lexicalized ideophone
have been borrowed as loan into Yucatec Spanish. Their expressive character make them
interesting and useful words for speakers to describe or suggest complex event, especially
in a language poor in expressives such as Spanish. For instance, the Yucatec Spanish
expression tirixta is the hispanized form of tirix ta’ ‘strong diarrhea’ itself constructed on
the lexicalized form of the ideophone tíihri’ix derived from the root TIX ‘rinse, wash out’
and the noun ta’ ‘stool,’ as in (53d).
(53)
Examples of lexicalized of ideophones
Root
Ideophone
Lexicalized form
(a) pak’ ‘fold, flap,
páahk’a’ach
pak’ach ‘making tortilla by hand’
slap’
(b)
(c)
(d)
tak’ ‘stick,
táak’a’ach
adhere’
wak’ ‘explode, set wáak’a’ach
off loud sound’
tix ‘rinse, wash
tíihrix’ix
out’
tak’ach ‘flip-flop’
wak’ach ‘walking in mud with
flip-flop’
tirix ta’ ‘strong diarrhea’
A more complete examination of CVCVC root is still needed in order to determine
to which extant this process has been used to construct stems in Yucatec Maya.
6
Concluding remarks
Ideophone in Yucatec Maya although they share most of the features of ideophones
in other languages of the words present a particularity of being derived stems from
various classes of roots. However, ideophones as a derivation is not a phenomena only
restricted to Yucatec Maya and Kunene (2001:188) for instance mentions that in Southern
Bantu languages of Africa, ideophones can be created from monosyllabic verbs with the
addition of suffixes. In Kammu, a Mom-Khmer language, Svantesson (1994) also
indicates that particular templates are applied to roots to transform them into ideophones.
From a typological perspective, such phenomenon points out that fact that ideophones (as
expressive morphology in general) should be identified against the structure of the
language.
Ideophones in Yucatec constitute a special class of words insofar they differs from
other class of word phonologically (they show non conventional profile and are produced
with voice effects), syntactically (they are more detached than adverbs they are closed
to), morphologically (they have specific derivational templates) and semantically (they
present two layers of meaning: root + derivation template).
The productive character of ideophones also allows a better understanding of the
structure of the language, especially; it gives us insight about the status of roots and
stems. If roots derivation into ideophones is better understood as instantiation (following
Lois and Vapnarsky 2006), lexicalization of ideophone is a conversion process.
A multimodal analysis of the production of ideophone, and more precisely the
examination of gesture turned out to be a crucial source of information to determine the
meaning of the ideophonic derivation. Prosody and phonological analysis could reveal
also a lot about the semantic and the use of expressive word.
Finally, in Yucatec Maya as well as in other languages, ideophones, if present in
narrations, much more often occur in everyday language, a speech genre generally
understudied by linguists. Such fact should only encourage a closer attention to other
kinds of discourses and speech genre is needed in the field of linguistic descriptive.
18
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20
ANNEX 1: database of roots
Root
class
definition
(most of the definitions
are taken from Bricker
et al. 1998)
[sound]
‘cover, roll over’
examples of ideophones
1)
2)
bak
bal
onom
mv
bak
balak'
3)
4)
5)
ban
bits'
boh
mv
mv
mv
‘fall’
‘tighten’
‘sound hollow, knock’
banach; banachachacha
bits'
boh; bohchah
6)
bok'
mv
‘stir, mix, beat’
7)
bol
onom
(close to bul)
bok'; bok'chah; bok'ochah;
borok', bóohro'ok'; bok'ol
bolok'
8)
bom
onom
[sound]
bom
9)
bóoch
mv
‘peck, strike’
booch; boho'och
10)
11)
bos
buch
pos
onom
12)
buh
mv
boos
buch; búuhru'uch;
buruchuchu
buh; buhu'um
13)
buk'
onom
‘swollen up’
[sound of footsteps (loud
steps but slow)]
‘cut apart, split into two
equal part’
[sound of water]
14)
bul
onom
[sound]
15)
16)
17)
bum
bus?
buts'
onom
onom
onom
18)
19)
ch'ah
ch'eb
mv
mv
[sound]
[sound of a fall]
‘swallow through a tight
channel (close to bits’)’
‘drip’
‘lean on one side’
20)
21)
22)
ch'eh
ch'ik
ch'uk
mv
mv
pos
23)
chaas
onom
24)
25)
chak
chak'
onom
mv
26)
cheh
mv
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)
chel
chep
chi'
chih
chil
choh
onom
mv
onom
onom
pos
pos
33)
chok'
pos
‘cram, stuff, shove in’
34)
chuk'
mv
35)
chux
onom
‘dip (in)’ (as in taking chuhru'uk'; chúuhk'u'un
soup with a tortilla)
[sound]
churux, chuuruxuxuxu
36)
e'?
onom
[sound]
buk'; buk'uch;
buruk'uk'uk'uk'u; buuk'
buluk'
buum
buhsu'um; buus
buts', buruts'
ch'aah; ch'ah
ch'éehbe'en; ch'ebin
‘extinguish’
ch'ehe'en, ch'eh
‘pin, fix in place’
ch'ik ; ch'íihki'in
‘loosen, slacken, warp, ch'uhku'um
wrinkle’
rapid event done at once, chaas
grabbed by the hand
[sound]
cháahra'ak
‘wink, deflate’
chahra'ak'; chak'; cha'ak'a
‘stick out, exposed’
che'eh, chéhe'em
[sound]
‘rub, strike’
[sound]
[sound]
‘lie down’
‘hang down’
chehlem
chep; chéehpe'en
chi'
chíih
chihli'im
choh; cho'oh; chooh;
chóohho'om; chorox,
choroxoxoxo
chok'; chóohk'o'om; chok'ol
eeeeeeh
21
37)
ep'
act
38)
39)
40)
41)
42)
ha'ach
ha'at'
hach'
hak
háal
act
n
mv
mv
mv
43)
44)
45)
46)
han
han
haw
hax
47)
48)
heel-sheel
inc
inc
‘stay’
‘stay’
49)
hen
pos
50)
51)
52)
53)
54)
55)
56)
57)
58)
59)
hep'
het'
hi'ich
hi'ix
híin
hoch
ho'ot'
ho'ox
hoom (1)
hom (2)
mv
onom
act
act
onom
mv
mv
act
onom
mv
60)
61)
62)
hop
hos
hots’
mv
onom
mv
63)
64)
65)
huch
huh?
hul
onom
onom
mv
66)
hup
mv
67)
hup'
mv
68)
huts'
mv
69)
huk
mv
70)
hux
n
71)
k'ach
72)
k'al
mv
‘heavy object sprawling
because without internal
force’
‘tighten, squeeze, cinch’
[sound]
‘brushing’
scratch, bumpy, rough’
rapid motion
‘rasp, grate, shave’
‘scratch’
‘scaly’
‘buzz, hubbub’ (sound)
‘make
hole,
remove
bottom’
‘revive fire’
[sound]
‘remove a large figure
from a ground’
[sound?]
[sound?]
‘insert a figure into a
loose ground’
‘insert a figure in a tight
ground’
‘prick, puncture; entering
a Figure in a firm Ground’
‘a Figure moving toward,
near, inside or behind a
Ground’
‘cover with body, bulge
down’
‘rough stone (used to
scrape skin or sharpen
machete)
‘sound of a metallic object
falling on the ground’
‘close, lock’
73)
74)
k'ay
k'ech
mv
mv
‘sing’
‘turn, deviate, tilt’
75)
76)
k'i'i
k'íix
onom
n
onom
act
pos
mv
onom
‘cracking because of
pressure’
‘scratching a wide object’
‘scratch several objects’
‘chew’
‘lower, slip’
‘dig out, spoon out, take
out’
éehp'(é)ech, ehp'echecheche,
e'p'eeech
haahra'ach
haahra'at'(at'at'a)
hach'
háahka'ach
halak'; háala'ach
‘sudden’
‘eat’ [sound of eating]
‘facing upward’
‘wipe, stroke, beat’
haan
ham
hahwa'an
háax; háahra'ax;
hahra'axaxaxa
he'esi'in
heéehle'em, héele'ech
[sound]
‘thorn’
22
heen, héehre'en
hep'ech; heehp'e'ech
héehret'e'te'te'
hi'ich; híihri'ich
hiix; híihri'ix, hihri'ixixixixi
hii'hiin; hiin
hóohro'och
hóohro'ot'
hóoro'ox, hóohro'ox
hom
hohmo'om
hop, hóohpo'och, hóohpo'om
horos, hóohro'os
húuhru'uch
húuhru'uh
húuhlu'uch; huul; huli'in;
húuhlu'uts'
hupuch, húupu'uch,
húupu'uts', hupi'in
húuhp'u'uch, húuhpu'uts',
hup'i'in
huts'i'in; húuhru'uts',
húuhts'u'uch; húuts'u'un
húuhku'uch, húuhku'uts'
huurux
k’áahra'ach
k'ahlan k'ahla('a)n;
k'áahla'an; k'áahla'ach
k'ay
k'ech; k'echi'in; k'ehche'en ;
k'éerech
k'i'i
k'iirix, kíihri'ix
77)
k'ob
mv
78)
k'och
mv
79)
k'ol
mv
80)
81)
k'op (1)
k'op (2)
82)
k'oy
mv
83)
84)
85)
86)
k'ub
kech'
kel
kíil
mv
n
onom
onom
87)
88)
89)
90)
91)
92)
kip
kits'
kop
koy
kul
kup
mv
mv
mv
act
pos
onom
93)
94)
95)
96)
97)
98)
lah
lek'
lem
lets'
look
lox
mv
mv
mv
mv
n
mv
99)
100)
101)
mach'
max
nat'
mv
mv
mv
102)
103)
nich'
noh
mv
pos
104)
nóot'
mv
105)
106)
o'
op'
onom
mv
107)
p'ah
onom
108)
109)
p'e'
p'i'
onom
onom
110)
111)
112)
113)
114)
115)
p'ich
p'ik
p'o'
p'oh
p'u'
p'uch
pos
mv
onom
mv
onom
mv
116)
117)
p'us
p'ux
mv
pos
118)
pach'
pos
onom
mv
k'ohbo'om; k'ohbo'och,
k'obi'in
‘hit, to butt (e.g. with the k'óohro'och, k'oroch
horns)’
‘loop’
‘beat, strike, hit, tap
lightly’
[sound]
‘thump (with closed fist),
knock, bump’
‘dig inside a tighten
ground (e.g. finger in
ear)’
‘sink, disappear in water’
‘frog’ [C.308]
‘sound of crush?’
‘tremble, shake, quake,
vibration/sound of sthg
falling on the ground’
‘slip, slide’
‘frighten, trmeble’
‘roll, twist, screw’
‘fold unevenly’
‘seat’
[sound]
k'óohlo'on; k'óohlo'och;
k'oli'in
k'op
k'op; k'óohpo'och;
k'óohpo'on
k'oy; k'oy'i'in; k'óohyo'och
‘slap’
‘open (eye)’
‘pain, sudden and strong’
‘lick’
‘boil’
‘punch with the fist, fight,
box’
‘flatten’
‘bruise, mash’
‘mount, seize’
lah
lek'
lem
lets'
lok lok
lox
k'úuhbu'uch
kerech'; kéehre'ech'
kéehle'en; kelelelelelen
kihli'im; kilim; kililililin
kip, kíihpi'ich, kipi'in
kíirits'
kóohpo'on
kóohyo'ots'
kuhlu'um, kuli'in
kupcha
mach'
max; máahxa'an
nat'; náaht'a'ach; náaht'a'an;
nat'i'in
‘bite’
ni'ich’; níich'i'in
‘facing downward.’
nóohko’om; nohko'om;
nóoko'och; noki'in
‘hard
contact
(e.g. not'; no'ot'; nóohro'ot';
gnawing bones)’
nóoht'o'och
‘sound of throwing up’
o'
‘burst, break into pieces’
óohp'o'och; op'ochocho;
op'och; óohp'o'on; op'i'in
‘sound
of
explosion, p'a'ah, p'ah
opening the mouth’
‘sound of farting’
p'e'
‘sound of small farting p'i'
(high pitch)’
‘pop out (eye)’
p'ich
‘break off’
p'íihki'ich
‘sound of fart (low pitch)’ p'o'
‘bend over’
p'ohho'om
‘sound of fart (low pitch)’ p'u'
‘beat, flail (grain, fruit, p'uch; p'úuhchu'un;
thresh’
p'úurhu'uch
‘bend, hump up, swell’
p'úurhu'us
‘incline, weight down, p'uurux, p'uurururururu(x);
bend out’
p'úurhu'ux
‘hang, dangle, swoon’
pach', páahch'a'an
23
119)
120)
pah
pak
onom
mv
121)
pak'
mv
122)
123)
124)
125)
pan
pech'
péek
pek
onom
mv
inc
pos
126)
127)
pek'
pets'
pos
mv
128)
pik
mv
129)
130)
131)
pik'
poh
pok'
mv
onom
mv
132)
133)
134)
135)
136)
137)
pom
pok
pos
pot
pots’
pox
onom
onom
onom
mv
mv
onom
138)
puch
mv
139)
140)
141)
puk'
pul
pum
mv
mv
onom
142)
143)
144)
pus
rin
sit'
act
onom
mv
145)
soh (1)
ONOM
146)
soh (2)
pos
147)
148)
149)
150)
sop'
sut
t'ach
t'ah
pos
mv
onom
onom
151)
152)
t'al
t'eh
pos
mv
153)
t'ich
mv
154)
155)
156)
157)
158)
159)
160)
161)
t'ik
t'in
t'ob
t'och
t'on
t'óoh
t'ub
t'uch
mv
mv
onom
mv
mv
mv
mv
pos
pah
paki'in; páahka'an;
páahka'ach
‘slap, stick, join violently pak'; páahk'a'ach;
(e.g. throw mud on a páahk'a'an
wall)’
‘rapid action’
pa'an; paam
‘crush, smash, press
pech'en; péehch'e'en
‘move, sound, vibrate’
pe'ek
‘stretch out at full length, péehke'en
lay out’
‘sit on the ground’
pehk'e'em; pek'i'in; pek'chah
‘pat, crush, smash, press, péehts'e'ech, péehts'e'en
detain’
‘ventilating, moving air piki; piki'in
(with hand or fan)’
‘clear, lighten, brighten
pi' pik'; pik'i'in
‘sound hollow
poh poh poh
‘jump, hit’
pok'; póohro'ok';
póohk'o'on; póohk'o'och;
póohk'o'ots'
‘sound of a fall’
pom, po'on
‘sound of a hit, a fall’
pok
‘sound of a hit’
póohso'on
‘perforate’
póohto'och; póohto'ots'
‘squeeze out’
póohts'o'on
‘sound of a fall (soft), pox; pohxo'on; póorho'ox
small object’
‘beat’
puruchuchuchu
‘sound of an explosion’
‘fold, flap, slap’
‘dilute, dissolve, mix’
‘throw, hurl’
‘sound of a fall (heavy
object)’
‘wipe, shake off (dust)’
‘sound (high pitch)’
‘jump’
‘sound hoarse, hollow’
‘pile up (soft things
without internal force (e.g.
leaves)’
‘coil up, pile up’
‘return, revolve’
‘sound of foootstep’
‘sound
of
explosion.
brake’
‘stretch out’
‘hit with the side of a
large object’
‘hand
over,
extend
towards’
‘unravel’, thin out
‘tighten’
‘splash in water’
‘peck, strike’
‘bend’
‘strike, hit’
‘submerge’
‘perch, squat (on the
24
puk'
puhlu'um
pum; pu'um
púuhsu'um
rii:::n
sit'i'in; sit'la'an; sit'chah;
síiht'i'in; síiht'i'ich
sóohho'on
sohcha; so'oh
sohp'o'om; sop'; sóohp'o'och
súuhtu'un; súuhtu'uch
t'arach; t'áahra'ach
t'ah; tarah; t'áahha'an
t'ahla'an
t'eh
t'ich
t'ik
t'in
t'obon, t'óohbo'on
t'och; t'oroch
t'óohno'on
t'oh; t'óohho'on
t'ub; t'ubum; t'úuhbu'uch
t'uhchum; t'uchi'in
162)
163)
164)
t'un
tah
tak
onom
onom
mv
165)
tak'
mv
166)
tan
onom
167)
168)
169)
170)
tap'
tas
tats'
teh
171)
172)
thinner part of the body)’
[sound]
[sound]
‘position,
stick
under/among’
‘stick, adhere’
t'um; t'un
tah
tak; tahkan; t(a)rak; trak
[sound]
tak'; tak'ach; táahk'ach;
t'áahk'a'an
tan; ta'an
mv
mv
mv
mv
‘hit between two objects’
‘spread out, expend’
‘plane, straighten’
‘crack’
tap'; táahra'ap'; táahp'a'ach
taas; tas
tats'
teh, tehchah ; téehhe'en
tek
tep'
onom
mv
‘immediately, suddenly’
‘burst, break (rope)’
téehke'en
téehp'e'em, tep'ech; tep'e'ex
173)
tip'
mv
174)
175)
176)
177)
178)
179)
tis
tix
toox
top'
ts'eh
ts'i'
mv
mv
mv
mv
mv
onom
tip'; tip'i'in; t'ip'irix;
tíihp'i'in; tíihp'i'ich
tis; tiris
tiirix; tíihri'ix
toorox; tóohxo'on
top'; top’la’an; tóohp'o'on
ts'eh; ts'eeh
ts'i'; ts'i'i
180)
181)
ts'it
ts'op
mv
mv
‘increase,
exceed,
augment’
‘spurt’
‘rinse, wash out’
‘pour, scatter, rain’
‘bloom, small explosion’
‘chip, crack’
‘sound of high pitch (e.g.
a fart)’
‘eject’
‘pinch, bore puncture’
182)
ts'ot
mv
183)
184)
185)
ts'us
tsah
tsak'
mv
mv
onom
186)
tsan
onom
187)
188)
189)
190)
191)
tsin
tsoh
tuk (1)
tuk (2)
tuk' (1)
onom
pos
onom
pos
pos
192)
tuk' (2)
mv
‘bulge, knot’
túuhk'u'um
193)
194)
195)
196)
tul
tup'
tuts'
wach'
mv
mv
pos
mv
‘make overflow, gush’
‘smash, break’
‘lie, stretch out’
‘untie, loosen’
197)
198)
wak
wak'
mv
mv
199)
wan
pos
tuhlu'uk'
tup'; túuhp'u'uch; túuhp'u'un
túuhts'u'un
wach'; wáahra'ach';
wáahch'a'an
‘swell up’
wak
‘explode, set off loud wak'; wáahk'a'ach;
sound’
wáahk'a'an
‘seated on the bottom?’
waran; wani'in; wáahra'an
200)
201)
was
wat
mv
mv
‘stretch, split’
‘break, divide in half’
202)
203)
wax
weh
onom
onom
ts'íihti'in; ts'íihti'ich
ts'op; ts'ohpo'om;
ts'óohpo'och; ts'opi'in
‘insert’
ts'ot; ts'óohto'och;
ts'óohto'on; ts'oti'in
‘crouch, stoop’
ts'urus; ts'úuhru'us
‘fry’
tsaah
‘sound of a cut’
tsak'; tsáahk'a'ach;
tsáahk'a'an; tsak'i'in
‘sound of a slamming tsam; tsáahra'an
door’
‘high pitch sound, buzz’
tsirin; tsiin tsiin
‘crush’
tso'oh; tsohi'in; tsóohho'on
‘sound a small explosion’ tuk
‘pile up’
túuhku'un; túuhku'uch
‘twist, dislocate’
tuk'; tuhk'u'uts'
[sound]
‘sound of
liquid’
the
25
was
wáahta'ach; waahta'an;
wati'in
wáahra'ax
water. weeh; we'eh
204)
wek'
mv
205)
206)
207)
208)
wich'
wits'
wix
wooh
mv
mv
mv
mv
209)
xaw
pos
210)
211)
xik
xuk
mv
mv
212)
213)
yach'
yech'
mv
mv
214)
215)
yin
yuch'
onom
mv
‘lying smashed, dash to
pieces’
‘whip’
‘sprinkle (liquid)’
‘urinate, liquid gushing’
‘to loose’
wéehre'ek'; wek'
wich'; wíihri'ich'; wíihch'i'in
wíihts'i'in
wirix
wooh; wóohho'och;
wóohho'on
‘positioned in the form of xáahwa'an
claw’
‘break apart, crack, split’
xíihki'in
‘Figure standing on a xuhku'um
Ground loosely rooted’
‘flatten, smash, crush’
yach'; yach'i'in
‘flatten, smash, crush with yech'; yéehch'e'en
force’ (close to yach’)
‘rapid motion’
yiin
‘crumple,
fold,
dent yúuhch'u'um; yuch'i'in
(metal)’
26